Dispute idles ship carrying Bay Bridge supplies

OAKLAND Longshore union says its members should unload ship

A cargo ship from China sat idle Saturday at the Port of Oakland after a labor dispute halted the unloading of steel structures destined for construction of the eastern span of the Bay Bridge.

About 50 members of the longshore workers' union protested at Pier 7, saying they are being denied the right to unload the ship. The protests began Friday, when the ship, the Zhen Hua, docked at a staging area set up by Caltrans to offload shipped material that would be used in the retrofit of the bridge.

The work of unloading the ship has been assigned to two other unions - the Iron Workers and the Operating Engineers, which unload barges coming in to the pier loaded with cement and other materials from the Port of Sacramento. It was not clear Saturday who was responsible for the decision.

The longshore union says its rules specify that its members should unload ships.

Caltrans, which is building the bridge, and the contractor for the project, a joint venture between American Bridge and the Fluor Co., are blaming each other for the dispute.

A spokesman for Caltrans, Bart Ney, said Caltrans doesn't decide which unions work on the bridge - that's up to American Bridge/Fluor. "We've lost a day, and we'll lose another day if we don't work tomorrow," Ney said. "Our main concern is to get this seismic safety project delivered before the next earthquake."

But American Bridge's project director, Michael Flowers, said the ultimate responsibility for deciding who unloads the ship belongs to Caltrans. "I'm hoping that Caltrans steps up and shows some leadership," Flowers said. "In our view, we have appropriately assigned the work. It's construction work and not commercial cargo. We're working with Caltrans right now to try to resolve this.

"We need to solve the problem and continue working on the temporary structure for the bridge."

This is the first ship that has docked at Pier 7 in about seven years, Mackay said. It is carrying temporary steel structures built in China that are integral to building the single-tower suspension bridge, which is due to be completed around 2013.

Mackay said he heard last Monday that the ship would be arriving from China. He said he went to Pier 7 early Friday morning to try to make sure the longshoremen would be the ones unloading the Zhen Hua. In an effort to dissolve the impasse, Mackay said he talked to someone at American Bridge, but could not reach anyone at Caltrans.

Meanwhile, Caltrans had called the California Highway Patrol, warning of a possible protest, according to CHP Sgt. Jason Roy, and the CHP in turn called Oakland police.

"We have no dispute with the protesters," Roy said, "but they're not allowed on state property. This is a job site."

As of Saturday afternoon, two Oakland police cars blocked the entrance to Burma Road, which leads to Pier 7, although protesters and journalists were allowed to walk the mile or so down to the dock area. The CHP had a car blocking the entrance, with six additional patrol cars parked in the yard. Otherwise, the shipyard was still.

So far the protests have been peaceful, Roy said. Groups of protesters at the gate of the shipyard and on the sidewalk in front of Burma Road were making signs, playing dominoes and cooking sausages. Some rode bicycles between the protest sites.

But the dockworkers say they are not leaving until they get to unload the ship. "This is my livelihood," said Michael Lilly of the ILWU, as he ate a sausage in the backseat of a car. "My uncles and great-uncles fought to keep it since back in the 1920s."